Tom Hornbein was one of the team of mountaineers who made the first ascent up Mount Everest’s treacherous West Ridge in 1963.
- Died: May 6, 2023 (Who else died on May 6?)
- Details of death: Died at his home in Estes Park, Colorado after fighting leukemia at the age of 92.
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Tom Hornbein’s legacy
Hornbein grew up climbing in Colorado while at summer camp, and as an adult, he combined his love of climbing with his training as a doctor to develop an interest in human performance at high altitudes. He was able to study those effects firsthand when he joined the 1963 American Everest Expedition, climbing the iconic peak alongside Willi Unsoeld and Dick Emerson. They began their ascent just weeks after Jim Whittaker made headlines as the first American to climb Everest. But Hornbein and his cohort chose a different route, one that no one had conquered in decades: Everest’s challenging West Ridge.
Their expedition made it to the summit of Everest on May 22, 1963, after a slow and grueling climb. They then descended via the more frequently used Southeast Ridge/South Col route, making them the first to traverse the summit of Everest, or of any 8,000-meter peak. Their descent was more perilous than their climb, including a night spent at 28,000 feet with no tent or sleeping bags and their oxygen supply nearly gone. Hornbein was able to study the effects of such a high altitude on their bodies – he even removed his own oxygen mask while writing a letter home to note the effect hypoxia had on his handwriting. Along the way, he named the Hornbein Couloir, a narrow gully not far from Everest’s summit.
Hornbein, a U.S. Navy veteran, later wrote the book “Everest: The West Ridge” about the team’s experiences. He worked as an anesthesiologist and a professor, and he continued climbing regularly into his 80s.
Notable quote
“If getting to the summit was the only goal, then you would choose the route most likely to get you there, which the team also achieved. But there was a subset of us who had a dream to pursue the West Ridge – we wanted an adventure where the outcome was truly in doubt.” —from a 2013 interview for Climbing
Tributes to Tom Hornbein
Full obituary: The Washington Post
